文章基本信息

标题：The Benefit of Health Insurance Coverage of Contraceptives in a Population-Based Sample
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作者：Ann Kurth ; Marcia Weaver ; David Lockhart 等
期刊名称：American journal of public health
印刷版ISSN：0090-0036
出版年度：2004
卷号：94
期号：8
页码：1330-1332
语种：English
出版社：American Public Health Association
摘要：This study estimated the value of contraceptives, through a random-digit-dialed survey of willingness to pay for health insurance coverage of contraceptives among 659 Washington State adults. People valued contraceptives at 5 times the actuarial cost; in general, women and reproductive-aged persons were willing to pay more, but low-income men highly valued contraceptives. Most respondents (85%) said that contraceptives should be covered by health insurance plans. The full benefit of contraceptives exceeds their cost. Unintended pregnancy 1 and sexually transmitted infections 2 remain considerable public health problems in the United States. Contraceptive methods save more money than they cost, by reducing these adverse outcomes. 3– 6 Although more than 20 states have passed contraceptive coverage mandates, many health insurance plans continue to exclude contraceptives and safer-sex methods such as condoms. 7 In this brief, we report public opinion regarding insurance coverage of contraceptives and estimates of the full economic benefit of contraceptives. Benefit was measured by contingent valuation methods 8, 9 and included the value to current contraceptive users, future users (option value 10 ), and nonusers such as gay men, lesbians, and people beyond reproductive age (social altruism value).